Anime Fan Parody Talkback Summer 2010 (READ FIRST POST)

[1Kids]

Besides this being a reference to two other abridgers who were banned, there wasn't anything funny. I mean we've heard 'Hare Hare Yukai' for years now and I couldn't understand the reasoning for it. Sure I may not had watched those guys' videos but still, where's the joke?

Someone clearly hasn't seen skins & thumbswayup's DBZA (or didn't like/get it).

The joke is that it was a very memorable joke. So memorable, in fact, that a lot of people who watched DBZA 15 couldn't watch that scene without thinking of that joke.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Really? Wow. I know some people might not find it funny, but I figured anyone over the age of 12 would get the joke. Maybe I underestimate the power of childhood innocence. O_o

Anyways, here's the joke:
Goku is pumped up and ready to train, but he needs the proper montage music for it. While searching for it, he comes across a video of Haruhi Suzumiya dancing. So, instead of training, he becomes distracted and begins to... you know. "Take matters into his own hand."

Get it now?

...

Oh. Y'see...I thought he was just pushing that button really fast, trying to change the channel.


I guess this is the next logical conclusion when you know nothing of Haruhi or the abridged series referenced...

[NewcomerDC]

Someone clearly hasn't seen skins & thumbswayup's DBZA (or didn't like/get it).

The joke is that it was a very memorable joke. So memorable, in fact, that a lot of people who watched DBZA 15 couldn't watch that scene without thinking of that joke.

The joke isn't memorable so unless someone clears up the joke, even though I read about what the joke's supposed to be from SamTheGreek's last post, then like I said, the video wasn't funny.

[Innagadadavida]

It's funny if you've watched it. I wasn't expecting a reference to those guys so it took me by surprise, thus the lulz.

I miss The Real Dragon Ball Z Abridged.

[1Kids]

The joke isn't memorable so unless someone clears up the joke, even though I read about what the joke's supposed to be from SamTheGreek's last post, then like I said, the video wasn't funny.

I'm gonna stick with what I said in my first post. You clearly haven't seen and/or don't understand skins & thumbswayup's DBZA

[zeromaster]

Moderator Edit: Read the first post.

[Unwardil]

Ah Zero, you still won't take my biggest piece of advice though, which is cut down on your bloody intro times!

Half a chorus of a song, no more. Enough to be a neat transition from the intro to the first scene. If I want to watch a TTGL amv, I'll search for that. This is an abridged series. I want you to make me laugh. A 45 second intro doesn't achieve this goal.

[zeromaster]

Ah Zero, you still won't take my biggest piece of advice though, which is cut down on your bloody intro times!

Half a chorus of a song, no more. Enough to be a neat transition from the intro to the first scene. If I want to watch a TTGL amv, I'll search for that. This is an abridged series. I want you to make me laugh. A 45 second intro doesn't achieve this goal.

Trust me when i say your not the first person to say this too me. However, cutting the song down has proved to be difficult, but, i do have new intro ideas on the way which i promiss will be shorter, for now tho, it's gunna be there.

Also any suggestions for songs is appreciated

[Unwardil]

You know what, just take exactly what's there, but only play the last 8 seconds of the intro. That's almost perfect actually.

[Ezekieru]

I think the main problem of this series, as is with all Gurren Lagann abridged series, is that there are no new jokes. And by that, I mean there are few-to-no jokes in there that weren't already present in the original series.

Yes, Leeron's gay. Yes, they ran out of power and ammo and were conveniently saved by villagers. Yes, earthquakes were caused by Gunmen. Yes, Kamina steals a Gunmen. Yes, Kamina's dad is dead. And for god sakes, yes, Kamina is a bloody exaggerated idiot. These is all things that are already funny (or were plot points that lead up to funny moments), and been funny in the original anime series. There's NO reason why you have to reiterate the same jokes as the original. It's bad all the time. So are blanket statements.

The only jokes present that weren't taken from the original seem to have been the talking dolphin, which effect was worn down by the hard-to-hear echo effect, and the weird "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" song reference. And having only two real jokes in 10 minutes is kind of bad.

But really, if you're going to parody a parody on super-robot shows, you need bring something NEW to the table, not wallow around in the material already there on the get-go.

[zeromaster]

I think the main problem of this series, as is with all Gurren Lagann abridged series, is that there are no new jokes. And by that, I mean there are few-to-no jokes in there that weren't already present in the original series.

Yes, Leeron's gay. Yes, they ran out of power and ammo and were conveniently saved by villagers. Yes, earthquakes were caused by Gunmen. Yes, Kamina steals a Gunmen. Yes, Kamina's dad is dead. And for god sakes, yes, Kamina is a bloody exaggerated idiot. These is all things that are already funny (or were plot points that lead up to funny moments), and been funny in the original anime series. There's NO reason why you have to reiterate the same jokes as the original. It's bad all the time. So are blanket statements.

The only jokes present that weren't taken from the original seem to have been the talking dolphin, which effect was worn down by the hard-to-hear echo effect, and the weird "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" song reference. And having only two real jokes in 10 minutes is kind of bad.

But really, if you're going to parody a parody on super-robot shows, you need bring something NEW to the table, not wallow around in the material already there on the get-go.

I agree with you in that sense. Thing is it's been tough to come up with material that doesn't exaggerate the source material. But i'm also trying to stay close to the source material at the same time. I'm testing the waters with this new format and there maybe a twist or two later on, i dunno yet. But i'll definitely try to bring something new to the table as i write future episodes.

Episode 3 i'm really excited about and I've already written almost half of it. I've gotten into a habit of passing the script around to my cast members to get their input so that everyone feels comfortable with the script before we proceed, and their input definitely influences the result. Hopefully episode 3 will deliver in the areas that 1 & 2 were lacking.

[Master WGS]

Following up SamTheGreek's contest results, CountAbyss and Neochopstix respond to their "Honorable Mention" with a prize for the host himself.


(Slight language warning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN0qpa3VUwg

I'm really digging this wave of gift/prize giving in the abridger universe. I call for a holiday gift exchange around Christmas time. Perhaps a semi-secret Santa...

Hmm.... *ponders*

[zeromaster]

Following up SamTheGreek's contest results, CountAbyss and Neochopstix respond to their "Honorable Mention" with a prize for the host himself.


(Slight language warning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN0qpa3VUwg

I'm really digging this wave of gift/prize giving in the abridger universe. I call for a holiday gift exchange around Christmas time. Perhaps a semi-secret Santa...

Hmm.... *ponders*

That video was win XD count never ceases to amaze me.

And i like the secret santa thing, problem would be postage tho, i'd have to be done way in advance

[Mynd Hed]

I'm totally behind the curve, but I just listened to the latest Unabridged Podcast that came out a little while ago on the topic of alienating or offending one's audience. I thought it was awesome that at no point in the conversation did they mention the most alienating thing you can do in an abridged series, which is to fail to balance the audio such that it sounds like most of the characters are way across the room from you but one of them is right up next to you yelling in your ear, despite the fact that THEY THEMSELVES DID IT IN THE PODCAST ITSELF. Beautiful, beautiful piece of meta-level satire. You guys are true comic geniuses.

In all seriousness, they took issue with something I said in one of my Gantz commentaries, talking about how I thought that casting Kurono's penis as a stereotypical black voice was made more okay by the fact that it's in character for Kurono to imagine his junk talking that way. To which I reply: I will gladly own up to the fact that I always do whatever seems like a good idea at the time, and only think up some kind of reasoning or justification for it after the fact. But if commentary tracks aren't the place to overanalyze your work and make up self-serving justifications for things that nobody really took offense to in the first place, then what the heck are they FOR?

[Unwardil]

Beautiful, beautiful piece of meta-level satire.

Well, that's what I'm (not especially) known for.

I will gladly own up to the fact that I always do whatever seems like a good idea at the time, and only think up some kind of reasoning or justification for it after the fact.

What I never really articulated in the podcast was that I didn't think there was anything there to justify. Maybe I'm actually colour blind to that kind of thing but it literally never occurred to me that it would be offensive and/or alienating. Has the civil rights movement failed so epically that a skinny white man can't imbue his penis' internal monologue with a baritone black man's voice without causing offense? I think not.

[SamTheGreek]

What I never really articulated in the podcast was that I didn't think there was anything there to justify. Maybe I'm actually colour blind to that kind of thing but it literally never occurred to me that it would be offensive and/or alienating.

I agree. It isn't that it was a lame excuse, it's that there was no reason for the justification to begin with.

Seriously, what's the big deal? Everyone's a little bit racist, and that's okay to a certain degree. Lines that shouldn't be crossed exist, but surely that joke wasn't anywhere near the line. There was no reason for a justification, so it was weird that you made one. Now, we're not criticizing your right to make one. We're just saying it would have been better if you hadn't.

To paraphrase Morgan Freeman: "The best way to get rid of racism is to simply stop talking about it."
While that isn't true 100% if the time... or maybe even 90% of the time... I still think it definitely applies to this situation.

[zeromaster]

I agree. It isn't that it was a lame excuse, it's that there was no reason for the justification to begin with.

Seriously, what's the big deal? Everyone's a little bit racist, and that's okay to a certain degree. Lines that shouldn't be crossed exist, but surely that joke wasn't anywhere near the line. There was no reason for a justification, so it was weird that you made one. Now, we're not criticizing your right to make one. We're just saying it would have been better if you hadn't.

To paraphrase Morgan Freeman: "The best way to get rid of racism is to simply stop talking about it."
While that isn't true 100% if the time... or maybe even 90% of the time... I still think it definitely applies to this situation.

Race is a touchy subject that shouldn't be. In a parody such as this, people should understand that were not doing it just to hate on a certain race, but just to add some flavor to a joke. This reminds me of a quote by Trey Parker "All of it has to be okay, or none of it's okay." Meaning, if you can't make fun of everyone, don't make fun of any of them. This is something I think people need to think about since it's so easy to mis-interpret something as simple as a joke in an abridged series.

[Mynd Hed]

Not to derail too much onto the topic of race, but I think just the opposite: I think it's important to occasionally think a little about how one's actions might appear to someone of different background, and to have an open dialogue about it. The only way for people to understand one another is to communicate, and you can't grow in your understanding if you're only willing to talk about easy topics.

When doing that particular commentary, I happened to think in passing, "Gee, I wonder how that joke might have sounded to a black guy." Not having any black guys close at hand to ask, I thought about it, noted the fact that nobody had complained or seemed offended, and came up with an explanation for that which seemed to fit, in typical overanalytical audio commentary fashion. I have no idea whether my explanation is actually the reason why nobody was offended, but I did get a couple comments from people saying that they were black and had never had a problem with it, so I walked away feeling reasonably satisfied with the whole experience.

[SamTheGreek]

Speaking of racism, Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action film is coming out soon, and it has already been abridged!

The Last Airbender Abraged by Jurpentine

That's right, it's Avatar Abridged, but not by Gan!
It's still quite good though.

I'd like to talk about what I liked, but that requires spoilers:

Spoiler:

When Aang gets all serious was by far the best part. It was one of those "this is so overly tragic that it is funny" moments that was written perfectly. I also enjoyed Zuko turning into Two-Faced at the end.

[zeromaster]

Speaking of racism, Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action film is coming out soon, and it has already been abridged!

The Last Airbender Abraged by Jurpentine

That's right, it's Avatar Abridged, but not by Gan!
It's still quite good though.

I only recently subbed to jurp so I was surprised to see this in my sub box, I had a good laugh, too bad this was so late would've been an awesome entry into your contest even if it wasn't berserk abridged by hbi2k XD